Canada Province 2 of 4! Nova Scotia (Part 1)

Day 10 of our Canadian Maritime RV caravan kicked off our tour of Nova Scotia. We spent the first two days in Annapolis Royal and had lovely oceanview camping. Even in the rain, we had a fantastic tour of the Port Royal Habitation, a rebuilt French settlement built originally in 1605. It is amazing how these settlers lived and got along with the local first nations Mi'kmaq people who lived in these provinces. The bus then took us to Fort Anne which was later built by the British to protect the town of Annapolis Royal. A group lunch at the local family-owned German Bakery was delicious and we managed to escape without taking a bag of pastries "to go"!

Reconstructed Port Royal Habitation

Jeffrey trying on his wooden shoes

On our free day, we paired up with another RV couple and went into Digby to see the Admiral Digby Museum, stroll along the waterfront where the world's largest scallop fishing fleet calls home, and enjoy some of their catch for lunch. Most importantly, we learned how to pronounce scallop the Nova Scotia way -- sc-all-up.

Next was short RV driving day over to Lunenburg. We arrived early enough to dash over to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic which was quite extensive. We got a nice tour guide intro and then explored it on our own. No surprise that one of the exhibits was dedicated to several huge storms that hit this area in the early 1900s and really decimated the local male population. Many of those fishermen were aboard doomed vessels with fathers, brothers, and other family members.

The harbor in Lunenburg with a recreation of a 100+ year old pre-steam engine fishing sloop

Us having a whale of a good time

Our next day was open and we used it to drive through quaint tourist town Mahone Bay and explore the short hike and have lunch at The Oven park. There are some interesting caves carved by the ocean into the cliffs here and resemble "ovens" (hence the name), though the surf and tide did not allow us to witness its famous blowhole and hear the 'Thunder' Cave.

The Ovens

Us enjoying the hike on The Ovens coastal trail

Days 15 through 18 of our trip were in the very-busy Halifax/Dartmouth area. July 1st is Canada Day so the campground and tourist spots were packed full with holiday vacationers. Two of our three days here were organized bus trips to try to get us to all of the local sights. We started with a visit to Fairview Cemetary -- famous for the many graves of Titanic victims. We continued this story by going to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic where we found extensive exhibits on the Titanic (because Halifax was the closest port to the sinking and helped recovery of bodies) as well as the 1917 Halifax harbor explosion (where a WW1 Belgian relief ship collided with a French munitions ship in the harbor and caused an explosion that killed 2000 and injured 9000). Boston sent trains of medical personnel and supplies to help the Halifax victims. To this day, Halifax sends a lovely huge Christmas tree to Boston every year as a thank you.

Titanic victim's graves in the Halifax Fairview cemetary

Wonderful lighthouse on our harbor cruise

We capped the afternoon with a lovely stroll along the waterfront boardwalk before all going on a scenic Halifax harbor cruise. While it was a full day, the next day was even more so. It was Canada Day so our morning visit to The Citadel National Historic Site was treated to a number of special military presentations by locals in costume -- from soldiers doing marching and gun drills to big artillery loading demonstrations. We then enjoyed a fantastic lunch at the nearby Prince George Hotel before the grand finale -- attending the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo Extravaganza. What a mouthful, but it lived up to its name! Two hours of wonderful performances by talented groups from all over the world, including our own US Marine marching band. Few of us left without shedding a tear or two as many of the musical parts were sweet dedications to military and other public-service organizations. Google it and you will find lots of Tattoo pictures online. Too hard to capture in its true live glory!

The final day in Halifax was a "free day" and, since we'd already visited Peggy's Cove from a cruise ship excurion years ago, we opted to sleep in, provision groceries, defrost the fridge and do a little laundry. No glamour, but necessary errands no matter where you live. Our final Nova Scotia stop before going to Newfoundland was to get us all positioned 250ish miles NE in North Sydney where the ferry will pick us up. This will get us up to Day 19 of the trip and that means 30 days still left ahead of us.

All of our RVs lined up for the ferry to Newfoundland.  We are the one under the arrow.

Regarding the "lifestyle" part of the trip, a few of us are still chasing motorhome issues. Thankfully our water pump misbehaviors have abated for now. It pumps just fine, but sometimes won't stop or, even when not in use, slowly fills our water tank (likely due to a faulty check valve). Our newest "what the heck" item occurred at the Dartmouth campground when our tire pressure monitoring system starting saying random tires on the rig and car were over 500 psi. This is clearly impossible and the readings returned to normal once we got back out on the road. After a call to the manufacturer, we learned that they had done a firmware update to new units back in 2015 and it turned out to conflict with older units (ours is 2012). Apparently we were parked near someone who had a newer system which caused ours to misbehave. They have promised to replace our system once our trip is over -- at their cost!

In a "not so great" moment, we had one of our slide topper awnings unfurl itself as we were crossing a bridge with high winds hitting us directly on the side. This happened to us years ago outside of Houston and we had a real snarl on our hands to undo. This time the awning neatly rolled itself back in without damage as soon as we got off the bridge, but we gave quite show to the RV that was traveling behind us! We have a way of pinning this awning if we expect these wind conditions (not convenient to do), but this occurance caught us by surprise.

Now on to Newfoundland!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

Canada Province 1 of 4! New Brunswick, Canada

Our much-awaited Canadian Maritime RV caravan trip kicked off near Bar Harbor, Maine, as 19 RVs gathered for this 49-day adventure together. One RV is the "Wagon master" and they are in charge of our itinerary and general logistics. We were initially missing our "Tail gunner" RV as they had a breakdown that prevented them from joining us, so a replacement Tail gunner was en-route and would join us in a few days.

That first night included an orientation meeting and "get acquainted" party. It is a nice group of folks and we are all excited about this trip. Dinner was a catered whole lobster meal and thankfully included instructions so we could wrestle the meat out of the shells.

Following the driving instruction booklet we were provided, we all drove 136 miles to St. Andrews the next morning. We are discouraged from convoying as it can hamper other traffic. We are basically given a window to leave the current park, with the Wagonmaster generally being first so they can be set up to receive us at the other end. Today not only included crossing the border into Canada but also getting our last chance at cheaper fuel in the USA.

Our new RV park in St. Andrews had a fantastic view overlooking Passamaquoddy bay. St. Andrews' downtown area was a short walk away and was very much geared to the summer tourist season. We were picked up by a tour bus the next morning and driven around the area to see amazing "loyalist" homes moved here in the 1783 (by boat), the town jail, the town Courthouse/Archives, and finally Kingsbrae Gardens where we had lunch. There is a 28 foot tide at this part of the bay and it was fascinating to watch it go in and out during the days we were here.

St. Andrews Courthouse

Kingsbrae Gardens

On our second day here we all carpooled over the low-tide sandbar to see Minister's Island where the summer home of railroad-baron Sir William Van Horne (deceased) is located. The window to see the home and surrounding property is limited as you need to drive back over the sand bar before the tide covers the road!

Our line of cars going across to Minister's Island

Day 5 had us driving a short 73 miles to Saint John. It is a social group (as most RVers are), so we had our first impromptu group "Happy Hour" followed by several of us going out for a seafood dinner afterwards. The next day included a formal bus tour that took us by Fort Howe (built by the British to protect the city from American raids), the Old City Market (shopping), and Carleton Martello Tower (tower built on a hill to help protect the area from coastal attacks). We also swung by the famous Reversing Falls at low tide. After the bus trip was done, we made two additional drives in the car back to the falls that day so we could witness the "slack" and to see high tide where the water rushes back into the river.

Outgoing tide at Reversing Falls

On Day 7 our goal was to go 110 miles to Hopewell Cape. We stopped at the town of Alma on the way and took a long walk across the sand to the low-tide ocean. Any boats still at the dock were on blocks and completely out of the water, waiting to be afloat again when the tide came back in later.

Alma at low tide

The next day we all drove our cars over to Flowerpot / Hopewell Rocks at both high and low tides (a 34 foot difference) so we could witness the dramatic change between the two and how the rocks were exposed. A guide walked us out at low tide and shared a number of stories about the rocky landscape and the local ecology.

Flowerpot Rocks

That evening we drove ourselves into Moncton so we could witness its "Bore Tide". This is when there is a rush of seawater returning to a shallow and narrowing inlet (Peticodiac River) from a broad bay (Bay of Fundy in this case). It was only 3-4 feet tall that day, but still impressive.

Bore Tide in Moncton

Now for the RV "lifestyle" part of the post: We lost 1 RV before even leaving Bar Harbor as the single-hander fellow was called home by his doctor due to results of a blood test done before he left home. Another RV stopped for lunch along the route one day and the rig wouldn't start again, so they got towed to a service center, a new engine "starter" installed, and caught up with us the next day. Another rig is suffering with a slow radiator coolant leak and are making plans for a new radiator to catch up with us. Our own new water pump is acting finicky. No doubt we will each face a challenge or two over the next 5+ weeks together but hope everyone "travels safe" as we like to say. Never a dull moment living in these machines!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

Playing catch up (again!)

Gosh, a blink of the eye and three more months just flew by! I'm really going to need to get my blogging act together for the summer!

For the 6th consecutive year we followed our time-honored schedule of ending our winter in Gainesville, Florida, and enjoying springtime in Raleigh, North Carolina. It hasn't gotten boring in any way, though, and we love the family and friend time we get in both places and on the way between the two. We even squeezed in a 1-week trip to have some lazy time (and lazy "river" time) with my parents at our time share in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico.

Dinner in Mexico

We finally exhausted our chances at attending High School graduations in Raleigh for our niece and nephews last year as they are now all safely ensconced in college studies. That said, nephew Karl happily slid from finishing his BS and into an international MS program. Oh, the places they will go! (thanks Dr. Suess!)

Maren/Jeffrey with David/Mary and Scott/Caroline -- fun night out on NCSU campus

Us with Mary/David catching an outdoor concert

May kicked off some new ground for us, starting with a special reunion to see my former step-brother, Patrick. Hard to believe it had been close to 4 decades since we last saw each other and I'm sad it took that long. Turns out he lives in Virginia near where we first met as children.

Us with Patrick and his wonderful family

Our next big stop was in south central NY state so I could satisfy my giraffe obsession at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville. I'd been internet-following their giraffe family for over a year and it was a big thrill to hand-feed them carrots. The rest of the park is awesome too, so put it on your travel list. Dear friend, Julie, from our Austin TX days had moved to NY and met us at the park to share the day with us and brave my animal giddiness :-)

Feeding mom April and dad Oliver at Animal Adventure Park

Maren not feeding carrots to April fast enough

Leaving Max (the motorhome) in Harpursville, we flew to Florida for a week to celebrate Jeffrey's dad's upcoming 90th birthday in Ormond/Daytona Beach. It was a grand affair with all of the Martin boys and their families, several cousins, Jack's brother and sister, plus my own Dad and Sheila, converging on the local hotels to enjoy several fun events together. It was reminiscent of the many wonderful years Jeffrey and I spent with his parents and brother's families in that area every Memorial Day until about a decade ago. As a bonus, Sheila also got a mini reunion with her brother Dick, niece Sarah, and nephew Ben while we got to meet Sarah and Ben for the first time (well, we met Sarah as a 6-month old at our wedding almost 30 years ago!).

L-to-R: Jeffrey, David, dad Jack, John, Scott, and Richard

Let them eat cake!

Returning back to NY, I got one more giraffe fix at Animal Adventure and we enjoyed a fun evening catching up with RV friends who lived nearby that we met at Winnebago's Grand National Ralley in Iowa last summmer. We capped off our NY plan by going to a Rumble Ponies minor league baseball game in nearby Binghamton. Why, you ask? Former Gator football player Tim Tebow is currently on this team and it is clear he is a local favorite.

Tim Tebow waiting for his turn at bat

Our last few days were spent near Boston, MA -- an area rich in the history of three former Presidents -- John Adams (#2), John Quincy Adams (#6) and John F. Kennedy (#35). In case you are wondering, 2 days isn't nearly enough time to see Boston, but we had caught some of it from a cruise ship stop a few years back. Our final day was spent lurking around Salem and catching a brief overview of its huge maritime past as well as all the witch nonsense that killed 20 innocent puritans. I think every other business in town there is devoted to some aspect of witchcraft. We capped our Salem day by enjoying dinner with Suzanne Martin -- a Gator we met in the Gator Club in Austin, TX, years ago. She is a traveling Physical Therapist and just moved to Salem for her next assignment. She keeps trying to shake loose of us and we keep finding her!

Maren doing her best "Bewitched" impersonation

As I write this post, we are on our way to Bar Harbor, Maine, where we will link up with an organized 49-day Canadian Maritime Fantasy RV caravan trip. This has been on our bucket list for several years and it should be interesting to share it with 15 other RVs as we explore New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. I'll try to blog more frequently to capture this adventure in sufficient detail (sorry in advance!).

Motorhome-wise, we used some time in Raleigh to give Max and the car a good wash/wax (by hand) along with some rust prevention. We even got brave and added an electrical switch to help us manage one of our air conditioner zones. We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves but it was short lived when a different electrical issue popped up and we spent a long morning trying to diagnose and fix a problem with one of our big breakers. Thankfully we carry a spare of this specific breaker as it isn't a common one, but we played it safe and ordered a new spare replacement as well as another part that appears to be wearing down. It should be okay through the summer, but if not we can whip out our magic spare parts box again. If anyone reading this blog thinks RVing is all fun and games and no work, think again! I recall being so emotionally distraught when we had our first RV issues 6 years ago -- but now we take them in stride and deal with each one as it comes. Nothing is so bad that it disuades us from this lifestyle (so far).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

Never a dull moment!

We often have non-RVing folks ask us what we do with all the spare time we must have on our hands now because we are currently unemployed. We reply that our days are usually so full that we aren't sure how we ever had time to work! It really is amazing how various activities are quick to move in on any "free time" we think we'll have.

As an example, we were invited to help the Escapees RV Club at their booth at the Tampa RV Show. Thankfully we had lots of antibacterial hand gel because flu season isn't the best time of year to get close with 1000's of people, but we thankfully escaped un-infected and had a marvelous time meeting folks, looking at RVs (looking NOT buying!), stocking up on various RV doo-dads, and socializing with the rest of the Escapees crew. I guess the 3 days we spent resting our sore feet at a nearby campground afterwards counts as "free time" though!

Us manning the booth at the Dallas RV Show last September -- Featured in the latest Escapees magazine!

The rest of January and February were mostly spent frequenting a few of our favorite Florida state park campgrounds (one near Jupiter and one just west of Orlando). They are both near family and friends and provide good pre-pollen weather to catch up on minor outdoor motorhome maintenance items such as waxing, checking/fixing seals, flushing water heater, etc. While near Orlando we splurged to go into Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park so we could experience the new Pandora section and rides. The multi-hour waits for the rides were not fun, but it really was spectacular if you are a fan of the movie, Avatar. We also squeezed in the safari ride so I could visit the giraffe. Expect to hear more about other giraffe visits over the next few months as I have a new obsession ;-)

Jeffrey being lit up by the black lights at Pandora

River boat to see Trapper Nelson's settlement at Jonathan Dickinson State Park

On our way to spend March near Gainesville, FL, we stopped for an appointment at the Cummins service facility in Ocala. We had been seeing damage to our serpentine belt this past year and it was time to figure out the cause so we didn't have to keep replacing it. Lucky for us, the culprit was just a tiny rock that had kicked up into one of the grooves of our crank-shaft pulley wheel. Even luckier is that they were able to get it out and the pulley didn't have to be replaced which would have been expensive. Unfortunately a bunch of engine pieces have to be removed in order to access this pulley, so we still had to fork over money for a few hours of labor. Career note: Become a motorhome diesel mechanic in the next life as they make good money!

We are now nicely settled in at the RV Park near Jeffrey's dad, Jack, and are enjoying time and Gator sports with him through early April. We also took a week to meet my dad and mom Sheila in Nuevo Vallarto, Mexico -- home of one of our lovely timeshare properties. The weather there was awesome and the 4 of us really kicked back together.

The Nelsons (and 1 Martin) enjoying dinner at the beach in Mexico

The lovely sunset we saw at dinner.

On a somber note for us both, this trip visiting with my parents is one of many we'll be making to spend time with them this year. It greatly saddens me to share that my wonderful father has been diagnosed with cancer. He has decided to forego risky chemotherapy as it is not curable. His bravery in the face of this challenge is truly amazing and I'm so proud of him for always living life on his own terms. He and his wonderful bride, Sheila, spent over 10 years of their retirement living full-time aboard a sailboat when he retired from the Army and they have traveled extensively in the years since. We were lucky to share many of their adventures and they have clearly passed their "wanderlust" on to us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

On the Road Again -- Starting Year 6!

Every time we start driving "Max" again after a long stay in one place I find myself humming Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" song. A long stay for us is anything over a month -- and our last visit to the Austin, TX, area was almost 3 months this time. We actually start to get "itchy" to be traveling after sitting still for only 2 weeks, no doubt due to our winter travel schedule that has us trained to switch Florida state parks every 14 days (their limit).

In addition to our Gator Club activities, visits with friends, and checkups with doctors and our dentist, our time in Austin this year was peppered with some new experiences. We volunteered to help the Escapees RV Club in Dallas for most of a week. It is always fun to talk with fellow RVers and soon-to-be RVers, plus we really appreciate the benefits of "Escapees" and feel privileged that they trust us to share their message. That said, the traffic in Dallas is crazy! We were rear-ended while riding in the car of our Escapee friends on the way to the show one morning and sadly, their car gave its life to keep us all safe. It isn't cheap or easy to equip a car to be towed 4-wheels-down behind a motorhome, so that makes it especially painful when you have to replace one.

Once we got back to Austin after the show, Jeffrey got his own maintenance done -- removal of his gallbladder.  It had started acting up in early August but we recognized the symptoms from my own gallbladder issue a few years ago. Thankfully we were able to keep it stable until we could get back to our Austin surgeon. Typically it is a relatively simple outpatient procedure but his just didn't want to leave its comfy warm home. Ultimately the surgeon won the battle, but Jeffrey was stuck in the hospital an extra day.

Other than a little physical therapy for Maren's shoulder (overuse from digging out old sealant on the motorhome), our remaining time in Austin was relatively calm. We did manage a few small escapes by plane/boat -- a week on a coastal cruise in California with my parents and a weekend in Florida for a cousin's wedding -- and they made us restless to get on the road in mid-November. Once we got moving, we made the now well-known journey across the gulf to Florida in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with Jeffrey's dad in Gainesville -- even going to the Florida/Florida State football game. The Gators lost, but hearing a stadium full of fans from both schools singing Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down" song in his memory was worth it.

Our "Princess" home for a week

Enjoying our nosebleed seats in The Swamp

With a year still left on our motorhome extended warranty, we then made a swing through Lazydays in Seffner, FL. It has hundreds of service bays and tackles our annual "needs fixing" list very well (words of advice -- if you ever purchase an RV, get an extended warranty.  Ours has paid for itself more than twice over). It is always nice when you can schedule repairs at your convenience instead of in an emergency situation. There are so many RVers now coming to Florida in the winter that getting an appointment at a service facility this time of year can be a huge problem if you don't have it set up months in advance!

Fixes in place, we started our meandering set of visits to the various FL state parks that are near the friends and family we have sprinkled all over the state and look forward to visiting while we are here. As I write this, we are near Sarasota in Myakka River State Park -- well known for its live wild alligator collection. We relocate in a few days up to Tampa to work for Escapees at the huge RV Supershow for a week. When we aren't working at the booth we have full access to see all of the RVs for sale and cool RV gadgets. We should probably leave the wallets locked up in Max while we are there. Hopefully our next blog post won't be talking about some big new purchase ;-)

Small Gator collection at Myakka River State Park (and one dumb bird)

Max at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

Our amazing country!

Our final month of summer travel treated us to a variety of special views of our country. After a few delays for service items, we finally made it into the Badlands of South Dakota. Still trying to catch up to our original schedule, we only had a day there, but still managed to drive the scenic loop, see some animals and, most importantly, purchase some eclipse glasses at the visitor's center! The city of Wall was also interesting if mainly for the famous Wall Drugstore. Jeffrey's favorite part was the ice cream shop where he enjoyed a chocolate shake.

Great view in the Badlands, South Dakota

Another of our favorite Badlands views

Two average tourists in the Badlands

Finally getting back on track, we made it to Piedmont, SD, which is just a few miles away from Sturgis. For those of you not motorcycle-savvy, Sturgis hosts a giant rally every summer and half a million (at least) motorcyclists descend on it as well as all the towns within a 100-mile radius. Luckily, our time in Piedmont was over before the official rally kickoff date! While in Piedmont, we took day trips to visit Rapid City, Sturgis, Deadwood, and Devils Tower in Wyoming. The Tower was our country's first national monument and it really is an amazing rock (as well as a cool centerpiece to the "Close Encounter's of the Third Kind" movie made in the 1970s). We did the 1.5 mile walk/hike around it's base and took way too many pictures.

Two Gators at Devils Tower

We then moved Max down to near Hill City, SD, putting him in the heart of the Black Hills and near the Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments. By this time the motorcycles had arrived and were our constant companions as we explored the area by car. Except for the low rumble of their engines early in the morning, they were all very nice and although it did make for larger crowds in the touristy areas and EVERY store in EVERY town was full of bike rally merchandise.

Every picture we took of Rushmore could be a postcard

Still lots to carve on Crazy Horse, but even his head is impressive

In the southern areas of the Black Hills we enjoyed multiple Bison/Buffalo sightings, a lone coyote, and way too many prairie dogs to count. We also visited the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD -- basically a sinkhole that managed to snag an impressive quantity of mammoths over many years because it was too slippery to get out of. It is being escavated "in situ", so you really get to appreciate the "dig" efforts. Dad and Sheila actually worked at this site a few years back as part of a Road Scholar trip.

Herd of Bison/Buffalo

Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota

Our next stop was at Chimney Rock in Nebraska. Our RV park was very close it and we had a perfect view right out of the front windsheild -- VERY cool in the evening when they lit it up! Chimney Rock and other various rock structures in this area were part of the gateway used by settlers going west in the mid-1800s. Nearby city, Scottsbluff, offered even more information about this hard and dangerous trek along the Oregon Trail. Many americans didn't survive the journey.

Chimney Rock when the lights went on one evening

Chimney Rock from our RV site

Our final major destination of the travel season was to get ourselves positioned in the 100% totality zone for the solar eclipse. We picked York, Nebraska, and even had an Austin friend drive up to join us for the event. On the big day, we unfortunately had light clouds, but were lucky to get a decent view of the totality and "diamond ring" at the very end of it. At that point the heavy clouds came through, so we got Max on the road south -- day 1 of a 4-day trek back to Austin, Texas.

Upon arriving and getting settled, we were greeted by hurricane Harvey and as I type this, are cooling our heels in Max while it rains rains rains on top of us. The winds so far aren't an issue -- and I must say the cooler temperature is a surprise -- but hopefully we won't be stuck inside for too many days!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

Up, down, and all around

I told Jeffrey the other day that, even when there are "down times" in this lifestyle, there is still nothing I'd rather be doing as the "up times" are so worth it. He gave me a big smile at this statement and admitted he felt the same way.

So lets start with the latest "ups"!  We had a terrific visit with our Raleigh family and friends and were thrilled to witness the high school graduation of nephew, Isaac. He'll be joining his two siblings at NC State this fall and we are so proud of all of them. Though we are in the area for over a month each spring, we rarely do the tourist sightseeing thing, so it was fun to go with niece Anna and her boyfriend, Trevor, to the NC Zoo. It boasts of being one of the "largest" zoos and, based on sore legs and feet the next day, I believe it! It was beautiful but quite sprawled -- felt like I'd hiked 10 miles!

Graduation Day!

Happy Giraffe

We then did a fairly quick transit to Mackinaw City, Michigan (very top of the "hand" right before you cross the big bridge to the "Upper Peninsula") to spend a week with my Dad and Sheila who flew over from their home in Washington state. The four of us had a wonderful time exploring the city, Mackinac Island, and the Soo locks. One highlight was my Dad doing a tandem skydive on his 81rst birthday -- quite a change from his critical hospitalization during his 80th just a year ago. None of us were brave enough to join him (and frankly I was not pleased with his desire to test fate by flinging himself out of a perfectly good airplane), but nothing could erase his joy at the accomplishment.

My daredevil daddy

Lunch at the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel

Adjusting our schedule a day to race incoming weather across the Mackinac Bridge (they won't let tall vehicles across if high winds), we slipped along the south edge of the "UP", down the east edge of Wisconsin, and west over to Iowa. Enroute were were able to detour with the car to Friendship, Wisconsin, to have lunch with former Austin neighbors, Dave and Cheryl Quillman. They are also now RV full-timing and have relatives nearby.  Once we got to Iowa, we again detoured in the car over to Rochester, Minnesota for a great (but too short) visit with Jeffrey's uncle Merlyn (also a former IBMer), aunts Margaret and Louise, plus cousin Mike.

Meeting the Quillmans halfway for lunch

Once back in Iowa we took Max for a "spa" visit. This equaled a few days of getting old ugly decals replaced, the front "bug" mask replaced, and some minor paint "ouches" addressed. He even got a full body "buff" which really shined up his full-body paint, but requires us to re-apply a coat of wax since it was removed in the process (sigh). Since this was done, we've had several RVers ask if the coach was new because it looks so spiffy, so I'm not complaining (much).

Now for "all around" #1. We had a pesky but intermittent "leveling jack" issue and had decided over the winter to have HWH in Moscow, Iowa, take a look at it since we would be nearby.  So east we go. Well, just like the magic recovery that often happens when you finally make an appointment to see your doctor, the jack issue stopped happening and of course refused to show itself at HWH. They gave us a free "check up" anyhow and had us back on the road in a few hours.  The trip was far from a waste though as we got to spend a great weekend with RV friends, the Marlins. In fact, his name is Jeff Marlin, so we always giggle at how close it is to my own Jeff Martin. Anyhow, they were workcamping less than an hour away and we really enjoyed seeing some of the local hot spots with them.

Marlins, Martin, and Nelson at the General Store Pub in Anamosa, Iowa

"All around" #2 took us back west to Forest City for Winnebago's Grand National Rally, held annually near their large manufacturing plant. They have a huge rally grounds area and it easily held the 1000 Winnebagos that arrived for the fun. Many take the opportunity to get some service items taken care of at the same time (including us). Ours were all minor things except for a concern about "low coolant" alarms we had been getting since leaving Raleigh. The 24-hour Freightliner hotline had us adding coolant, looking for leaks, and watching the reservoir tank level closely. We actually had 3 of these alarms on our jaunt to Moscow, so we realized the leak was getting worse. Nobody seemed too concerned so we tried to stay calm and methodical about it.

The rally itself was just as great as it was when we attended 3 years ago.  Lots of educational seminars, visiting with other RVers, items to spend money on, and system experts to talk to. They even have roaming technicians who will come to your RV to help with issues -- and we got a new door awning motor installed free because ours chose to sieze up that day. The Cummins engine experts were also on hand and helped us get some extra coolant and arrange for an appointment in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after the rally was over.

Us posing in the "Fabulous Winnebago" chapel (note Jeffrey's ball and chain)

Getting ready to leave the Grand National Rally

Before leaving Forest City, we took the car halfway to Des Moines to have dinner with fellow UF grad and friend, Ware Lynch.  He recently moved from south Florida to start an exciting new job near Des Moines. We like to tell people that they can try to move away from us but we will track them down wherever they go!

Time for the "downs" now. The next stop was handing Max over to Cummins in Sioux Falls and it took them less than 2 hours to discover the coolant leak location. The bad news is we had to replace the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculator - part of the emissions system). The good news is they had all the parts they would need and could do it in a day. The really bad news is that emissions systems are excluded from our extended warranty. Ouch. However, looking at the bright side, the issue was caught before the engine was damaged (sigh of relief!). The only mystery now is why our 3-month old serpentine belt is splitting. New belt installed and belt path inspected with nothing visibly amiss. We'll have to watch it and see if this one starts to split as well -- which will clearly require deeper investigation.

"Down" #2 and another "all around". We can see that one of the fiberglass/paint repairs done in Forest City at the "spa" did not stay fixed, so back east we go. This blows up our schedule a little and reduces time we'll have visiting friends and sights in South Dakota, but we feel the need to deal with it now. They take another crack at it and things still aren't perfect. Got a rain check to try again in a few years when we will likely want to come back for the rally again anyhow. This beats losing two more days in our schedule. The defect is high on the front cap so not noticeable to anyone but us probably.

Tomorrow we drive west into South Dakota once again. Time for more "ups" we hope!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform